Honey-Coated Smiles
by universetranscending
Summary: He chuckled then flashed me a radiant smile. He was really a sight to see. His soft light brown hair that framed his face made his serene, bright blue eyes bluer than it already is. His gentle yet genuine smile made me feel weak on the knees. I felt like I would have floated away if he hadn't spoken with that velvety voice of his that brought me back to where we were.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 3  
** Honey-Coated Smiles

 _"I'd rather die tomorrow than live a hundred years without knowing you"_

The gentle breeze tickled my cheeks as I opened the door, rushed out the house and walked into the sun where its golden rays gave me warmth that cold Monday morning. I walked on the streets, past houses and stores until I arrived at the gates of the campus where I was going to be spending the next couple of hours finding my way around the place, and also hopefully learning new things and making new friends. Without another thought, I made my way into the fist building I saw, praying that the building I entered was the right one.

Unluckily for me, the gods just happened to choose today to pour down on the earth gallons of misfortune, and I a mere human with a huge, invisible basin on top of her head just has to catch a significant amount of it. Significant enough for me to get lost and be late for my next class without a single, approachable soul whom I can ask directions from.

The school bell that signaled the start of classes rang throughout the hallways like a giant rock

rolling in my direction to crush me because I had been ill-fated enough to not find my classroom on time where I can stay safe, far from the reach of the giant rolling rock.

"Well this is bad."

I made a quick turn to try to go back to where I came from when I felt something, not entirely hard, but not exactly soft either, come in contact with my face in an almost violent way. I looked up as I gently rubbed my cheek with a hand only to see an apologetic gaze meet my eyes.

"I-I'm so sorry!" And on impulse I put my hands to my mouth, embarrassed with the clumsy move I made the moment before that.

"It's alright. Are you okay?" his expression still not changing.

"Right now, yes. But, prior to me bumping into you, nope. I'm actually lost and I've been wandering around for nearly twenty minutes now. Can you please help me?"

He chuckled then flashed me a radiant smile. He was really a sight to see. His soft light brown hair that framed his face made his serene, bright blue eyes bluer than it already is. His gentle yet genuine smile made me feel weak on the knees. I felt like I would have floated away if he hadn't spoken with that velvety voice of his that brought me back to where we were.

"You must be the new student then. Do you know what department you're under?" He asked with so much gentleness in his voice.

"Uhm, astronomy!" I stated with more optimism in my voice than I intended it to have. He chuckled again before pointing to his right. "Same as me. Well, then shall we go." He flashed yet another sweet smile."We're going to be late for our first class."

With that, we rushed to where our classroom was. After making several turns, and walking through a few hallways, we finally stopped in front of a door. He slid it open for me and motioned me to go inside like how a gentleman would.

He moved to the second row and beckoned me to the right of the seat he chose. "Come, sit here." His honey-sweet voice lured me to where he was without even having to process what he said.

"Suzuya!" A loud voice stood out from the voices of the other students talking. "Suzuya, you forgot this in my locker. It was getting stuffy so I had to get rid of it." The silver-haired boy said in a rough, somewhat impolite way while dropping the jacket on the desk of the guy who helped me out a while ago. "Oh, I'm sorry. I completely forgot" From the brunette boy, I averted my gaze to the loud, silver-haired boy only to find him staring at me blankly.

"Kanata, this is…" He paused for a moment and turned to me with an apologetic smile. "I'm afraid we haven't introduced ourselves to each other. I'm Tohzuki Suzuya." He extended his hand for me to reach. "I'm Minami Karin." I flashed my teeth at him as I reached for his hand to shake it. After what seemed like only a split second, he let go of my hand – unfortunately- and turned back to face the boisterous boy still staring at me. "Karin, this is Nanami Kanata. Kanata this is Minami Karin." He said cheerfully matched with a gleeful expression on his face. I beamed at Kanata but he only stared back for a few more seconds before looking back at Suzuya once more and walking away.

I stared at the space Kanata left vacant after leaving us, dumbfound. Who knew that rude boys like him existed in a prestigious school such as this?

"I-I'm sorry about that, Karin. He can be impolite at times but once you get to know him, he's really fun to be with." He raised his hand to brush the back of his neck, as his eyebrows met and his lips curved into a smile.

"It's fine, really." I laughed nervously while raising my hands in front of me.

Hardly a minute passed when the door slid open, the teacher entered the room and my new life in my new school began.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Warm Rays of Sunshine

 _"Love could be waiting at the end, 'round that bend and so let's stop and talk awhile."_

"What's our next class?" Time flew by ever so slowly for my first class. Math never really was my most loved subject. In fact I hated it. But it's okay because I've felt the feelings being returned by it ever since elementary through my test papers.

"Cooking class! We're going to the kitchen..." Suzuya said, sunshine radiating from the bright and happy aura he gave off every time he would talk to me.

"Oh, then I'll just pack my things first okay?" I said, trying to make use of the happiness he has rubbed off on me.

I was nearly done packing when I saw a red-head from the side approach Suzuya. I looked up to see an apathetic expression on his face as he talked to him. I looked back down again and continued arranging my books as i eavesdropped on their conversation.

"Where's Tsukiko?" the red-head said stoically.

"She's absent. Probably at home." Suzuya said and for that seemingly long moment, I felt his barrier of happiness that surrounded him a while ago drop quickly. From my peripheral view, I saw his gaze fall to the floor as when spoke those words.

"Still sick."

"I'm afraid so." He finally raised his eyes again, to meet with the red-head.

"Karin." He flashed a weak smile at me.

"Yes?" I zipped my bag and looked up at them.

He put a hand on the shoulder of the red-head. "This is Tomoe Yoh. Yoh, this is Minami Karin, a new student, second girl after Tsukiko to enroll in this school."

"Pleasure to meet you, Karin." He extended his hand for me to shake and so I took it. I laughed quietly, remembering how Kanata acted when Suzuya introduced me to him. "Please to meet you too, Yoh."

"We should get going or we're going to be late for our next class." Suzuya announced, grabbing his bag and slinging it over his right shoulder.

We walked out of the room and made our way to the kitchen.

Cooking class began a few seconds after we entered the kitchen. The teacher asked us to pair up. And being a new student, I didn't have anyone to look to who'd be willing to be my partner until a felt a gentle tap on my shoulder.

"Hey, do you have a partner already?" I turned around to see Suzuya beaming at me, his aura radiating warmth again like it did prior to his conversation with Yoh.

"Uhm no." I frowned. "It's kind of hard to find a partner considering that all the faces in this room belong to strangers."

"I'm not a stranger." He said with a tiny spark in his eyes. "I can be your partner." He offered to be my partner. No candy can match the smile that graced his lips and no ocean could have been bluer than his eyes as he stared me down with his beautiful almond eyes.

"really?" I said in a manner that sustained the last syllable longer than it's normally said, making myself sound silly.

"Of course." He said, laughing at me. "Here's your apron." He handed me an apron. When I reached for it, my fingers brushed the back of his hands lightly, causing electricity to run up my arms, reaching my face and turning my cheeks red. I immediately looked away to hide my embarrassed expression. We began baking cupcakes after we got into our aprons.

It was my first time to bake so I didn't really know what I was doing. It was a good thing that he's really good at baking. It was obvious that he enjoyed what he was doing. Through out the whole period we talked while baking. He told me so many things about himself, like his passion for cooking, how he had to deal with Yoh and Kanata fighting over the littlest things everyday, and how he had to watch over Tsukiko, our classmate, because she was the only girl enrolled here a semester before I entered the school.

The rest of the day flew by quickly but Suzuya never left my side. He let me stay with him, kanata and yoh during lunch, and he helped me out with the assignments and other lessons during the classes after lunch.

I looked out the window as I walked down the corridor. The sky was orange, the sun was setting. I sighed remembering how eventful the day was. At that moment I just wanted to get home and sleep until the sun rises again.

"Hey!" A familiar voice came from behind me.

"Oh hello Suzuya." I looked at him with tired eyes, and he noticed.

"You seem tired. Did your first day here stress you out that much?" He said with concern evident in his voice. He put his hand on my back to give me a light push so that I'd continue walking with him beside me.

"At some point, yes. It's kind of hard to adjust in an environment where you're the only girl." I laughed weakly.

"Yeah. You have to be careful okay? Don't be too trusting of everyone, especially here where you're surrounded with boys." He said seriously.

"Yes sir!" I said jokingly to lighten up the mood,bringing my hands up to salute. He chuckled and in an instant his happy self was back again.

"I'm gonna go ahead Suzuya." I faced him to flash him one last beam before I left. "It was a pleasure meeting someone as kind and accommodating as you."-"It was nice meeting you too. Take care. See you tomorrow. He put a hand on my head to tap it gently. I turned my back on him and walked to the gates as soon as he removed his hand from my head.

I looked back one last time before exiting the campus grounds to wave at him, and from afar, I saw him wave back at me. "See you tomorrow." I whispered to myself, with a big grin plastered on my face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**  
White Crows

 _"They sprinkled moon dust in your hair of gold and starlight in your eyes of blue."_

The sun was shining bright, rays of it penetrating the curtain-less windows of the classroom, reaching the surface of my desk. I sat quietly in the seat where I've sat in since my first day as I waited along with the whole class for the first teacher of the day to enter through the doors of the classroom.

It's been a week since my first day, and so far, I've been able to adjust to the school pretty well and fast. I didn't get lost as much anymore every time I'd go to the lady's room. I can already find my way on my own to the canteen, and I've already been introduced to most, if not all, my classmates.

My face was buried in a book when I heard the door slide open.

I checked my watch for the time and saw that it was still too early for class to start. I looked up, away from my book to see who it was.

"Tsukiko!" Kanata's voice filled the classroom. He stood up hastily and rushed to the side of the girl with long, light brown hair and big brown eyes. Not far behind, Yoh walked to where Kanata stopped and greeted the girl with a smile. I heard the chair to my left move, and when I turned to look at Suzuya, something was different about him. His radiance was magnified. He was obviously really happy.

He walked up to where the three were and joined in the conversation. "Hey there. How're you doing?"

"Suzuya! I'm very much okay now." She laughed and flashed all of them a sweet smile. She looked really pretty and she seemed really nice.

"okay class, take your seats." The teacher entered through the open door and took his place in front of the whole class. The four dispersed and went to their respective desks. The girl sat to my right so I decided to introduce myself to her, seeing as that we're the only girls who studied in the school.

"Hey! I'm Minami Karin. I'm a transferee. It's nice to know that I'm not the only girl here in the school." I laughed and flashed her the happiest smile I can form with my lips.

"Hello. I'm Yahisa Tsukiko. It's nice to meet you." She laughed at my remark. "It's not that bad. You'll get used to it. I was able to." She beamed at me one last time before facing the front to listen to the lecture.

After the last period before class, I quietly packed my things, thinking of what I should do during the one hour break. I kept my bag and made my way to the door, but before I could exit the classroom, someone called out to me.

"Karin! Where are you going?" I turned around only to see that it was Suzuya. He had a look of confusion on his face. Ever since my first day, I've always had lunch with him. Today was the first day I decided not to do so.

"I'm planning to look for a club to join." He walked to where I was as I spoke. "I don't want my world to revolve solely around academics that's why I'm planning to add another activity to my schedule."

"But don't you want to eat lunch first? I can accompany you after eating if you want."

"No, it's alright. I had a heavy breakfast so I'm not quite hungry yet. Thank you though, Suzuya." I reassured him with smile.

"Okay then. We'll be at the rooftop if ever you finish early." He smiled.

"Yes, yes. Thank you again." And with that I went on my way to look for a club.

I walked through the hallways to look for the bulletin board where clubs posted their announcements. And after some ten minutes, I finally found it. It was exactly as I dreaded it to be. Most of the clubs were sports clubs. And since the school only has two female students, they never really considered forming teams for females.

I looked through the posters and papers. There was the Taekwondo team, the baseball team, and swimming team. They were all sports-related clubs! I wanted to tear them to pieces until I came across one particular poster; the Glee Club poster. Singing was something I loved to do. It relieves me from stress and negative feelings. I scanned the paper and saw that they were looking for new members.

"I wonder if they would accept a girl. I doubt. Well its worth a shot."

I took note of the date, time, and place of the auditions.

I checked my watch to see that it has only been fifteen minutes since I left the classroom so I walked to the stairs that led to the rooftop to find Suzuya.

My eyes fell upon a certain silver-haired, boisterous boy in the hallway while I was looking for the stairs. He was alone so I decided to go to him.

Our relationship improved by a lot since we first got introduced. He talks to me more often now. Suzuya was right when he said that kanata was really fun to be with. He's never dramatic and he always speaks his mind. He makes me laugh all the time with the way he and Yoh usually argue.

"Kanata, I'm going to where Suzuya is, do you want to come?"

He looked like he was spacing out. His eyelids were half closed. He slowly turned his head to face me.

"Oh hey Karin. What's up?" The words came out so weakly as he backed up until his back hit the wall with a thud.

"K-Kanata? Are you alright?" I started to feel scared. Something at the pit of my stomach was telling me that something bag was going to happen.

He slid down the wall as his eyes closed completely. I quickly knelt in front of him to catch his head from falling on the floor. I wrapped an arm around his shoulders as I rested his upper back on my lap.

"Kanata! W-what's happening?" I started to panic. I banged on the door nearest to me, hoping that there's someone there who could help us.

"Please help us!" I didn't stop banging until i heard steps rushing to the door. The door slid open quickly and a tall, silver-haired boy with his hair parted to the side came out through it. He looked down at me to quickly survey the situation. He knelt, facing me to get Kanata's arm. He slung it around his shoulders and wrapped his other arm around Kanata's waist. In no time, we were heading to the infirmary.

He brought him to the nurse and was instructed to lay him on the bed. I stayed at the foot of the bed as I intently watched the nurse check Kanata.

After a long minute, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and it was the the guy who helped me bring Kanata to the nurse.

"He's going to be alright" He flashed me a confident smile.

"I hope so. Thank you by the way for helping us uhm-"

"Shiranui Kazuki" He said.

"Kazuki." I smiled at him. "I'm Minami Karin the-"

"Transferee, yes. I've read your records." He gave me a lopsided grin. "I'm the chair of the student council, if you do not know. I've known you already even before we've met because of the papers the administration office forwarded to me."

I didn't know what to think of the boy. He was overly confident but odd as it may seem, he wasn't annoying.

"I have to go. I still have some paper work to do. Are you fine here on your own?" I nodded as an answer to his question. "Well, I'll be off then. Oh, I'm in need of man power in my office. I'd really like it if you could fill in the position for me. If you're interested, just go to my office." He said with his back facing me before he passed the door frame and shut the door close.

How convenient was that? I laughed to myself as I made my way to the side of Kanata's bed. I sat on the chair beside him as I thought about whether to take the position or not.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**  
The Star-Studded Sky

 _"I think that the clouds liked the laughter, around us, wanting to feel the warmth of somethin' sinkin' down."_

Kanata's eyes slowly opened after half an hour.

"Kanata! Are you alright?" I stood up from the chair I was in to get a closer look at the bed-ridden boy. "Uh yeah. How long have I been out?"

"Around half an hour." I stared at him with a worried expression for what seemed like forever.

"Hey it's almost time for class. We should head back to the room." He pointed to the clock on the wall weakly as he tried to let his feet dangle from the bed.

"I don't think that's a very good idea, Kanata." I tried to push him back gently but he brushed my hands from his shoulder, startling me. I felt that he once against put up the wall that I was able to break in the short time I've interacted with him since school started. I did my best to ignore it and instead, assisted him so that he was upright. We silently walked back to our classroom, awkwardness radiating from both of us, saying not a single word to each other.

By the time we got back to the classroom, almost everybody was already in their respective seats, waiting for the teacher to arrive. Suzuya and Yoh stood on either side of the table of Tsukiko, talking to one another, with big smiles plastered on their faces. It was very evident how this girl made them very happy.

"Karin! Were you able to find a club?" Suzuya brought me back to reality. I turned my gaze to Kanata who was standing quietly behind me, by the door before turning back to the Suzuya.

"Uhm- I- yes, I might actually join the glee club." I said, doubt evident in my voice as I tried to avoid looking directly in his eyes. I was always such a bad liar.

Suzuya gave me a confused look. "Are you alright?"

I turned once more to the silver-haired boy who was already seated in his seat. "Uhm yes. Absolutely."

Before he could protest, the door to the room slid open, the teacher entered and class began. I scurried to my seat as fast as I could, again, avoiding eye contact with him. I didn't know why I couldn't tell him what happened but I felt that if I did, Kanata wasn't going to like it.

Time flew by fast, before I knew it. Class was done. I stared into space as I mindlessly packed my bag, putting one book inside after another until everything was inside. I stood up and walked to the door with my eyes on the floor. I felt so tired that I bumped into the person standing with his back in front of me.

"I'm so sorry!" I bowed.

"Karin, you know, if there's anything wrong, you can tell me. You've been spacing out a lot since you got back to the room after lunch." Suzuya was apparently the person whose back I collided with.

"There's nothing wrong, Suzuya." I lied. "Today was a very tiring day, I guess, that's why."

He examined me again before dismissing the issue. "Well then, get some rest. Don't sleep too late okay? I'll see you on Monday."

"Yes sir!" I saluted, making him chuckle lightly before walking away.

I sat on a bench in front of my building as I watched the orange sky turn blue and the stars begin to decorate the night sky with their light. So many things happened today. There was Kanata, who was acting very secretive with what happened to him earlier today. He didn't even tell me what it was that caused him to collapse. Then there was the offer of Shiranui Kazuki to join the student council. And of course, Yahisa Tsukiko. I couldn't help but feel jealous of her. I wanted to feel as cared for as her. I wanted to be looked for when I'm not around. I wanted to be loved.

I was so deep in thought that I didn't notice someone taking a seat beside me until he spoke up.

"Why are you still here?" Kanata broke the silence, startling me.

"I was thinking…" I sighed "...of what I should do." Not a single word followed from either of us for some time until he decided to speak up again.

"Thank you." I turned to him to give him a confused expression. "For saving me back there."

"Oh." My mind returned to the events that took place in the hallway during lunch time. "It wasn't me. It was Shiranui Kazuki who-"

"If you weren't there, nobody would have gotten to me sooner." I decided not to argue anymore and just flashed him a smile. "You see, I'm sick. I try not to show it so that I wouldn't worry Suzuya and Tsukiko."

"They're very important to you, aren't they?" He turned to me with a blank expression then looked up at stars. It was very beautiful the way they studded the dark sky.

From my peripheral, I saw him stand up. "We should go. It's getting late."

"Go ahead, I'll be fine." I said with moved to stand in front of me and grabbed my left hand before he started walking towards the gate, dragging me along with him "Hey! I said I'll be fine on my own!" I protested.

"No you won't. You only think that. You're forgetting that you're one of the two girls in this campus. You have to be more careful or people will take advantage." I stood in awe and after a few seconds, I nodded in defeat.

"Okay, I'm sorry." I stared at my feet as I walked beside him. We got to the gate without uttering another word to each other. He turned to the right side of the gate, opposite the direction of my home but before walking away, he spoke up. "Hey be careful on your way home."

My face lit up with his expression of concern for me. "Yes!" I beamed at him before also turning my back at him and walking home.


End file.
